This invention relates in general to pipe hangers and more particularly to a yoke and saddle pipe hanger with improved means for joining the saddle and yoke together.
In conventional pipe hangers of the yoke and saddle type, the yoke and saddle arms have alignable holes through which a bolt is inserted to fasten the yoke and saddle together. Several problems attend the use of such bolted pipe hangers, a particularly annoying one being that the nut for the bolt can easily be dropped or lost, often resulting in considerable lost time searching for the nut or a replacement nut. Regardless of such accidents, application of the nut onto the bolt is a somewhat time-consuming operation which necessitates the use of wrenches or other tools. The expense of fabricating the nuts and bolts for such devices is taken for granted.
Boltless-type yoke and saddle pipe hangers have been devised, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,652,045 issued Mar. 28, 1972. The hanger shown in this patent employs precision cut keyhole-shaped openings through the arms of the yoke and saddle members and a connecting rod having projections formed thereon which are intricately keyed to the keyhole-shaped apertures. The formation of the slots of the keyhole aperture and the projections on the rod both necessitate manufacturing operations which add to the overall expense of the device. Assembly of the device requires that the apertures of the yoke and saddle members be precisely aligned and that the rod be rotated 180.degree. upon insertion to lock the yoke and saddle together.